101 Alone
The background is white. ; Panel 1 Zane, standing in his dark room in front of the desk with the bloody corkscrew grasped in his right hand, looks to the side as a voice from offscreen calls "Ah, Mr. Zane, are you there?" Zane has taken the bloody page from the diary out of his pocket, and is holding it in his other hand. Sweat runs down the back of his head in several drops, and his teeth are gritted. Several short, thin yellow lines come from his head, expressing how startled he is. A cross-shaped gleam of white light glints off of the corkscrew. ; Panel 2. Dr. Angstrom is standing outside the door to the antiques store, holding his duck-headed cane. The snow falls thickly around him, piling up on the ground and on the windowsill. His expression is deeply troubled as he says "It's me, Dr. Angstrom -- Everything is all right, I think, but I wondered if you wanted to talk -- perhaps about your outburst --" ; Panel 3. Angstrom's profile is shown in dark blue silhouette through the glass window set inside the door, and the reader sees it as if we're inside the antiques shop looking at him. His glasses float in front of his face in a cartoony way. He says "I... imagine you're *frightened* right now, but I assure you I came *alone*. Mr. Planchett did not appear to be pursuing any legal measures." ; Panel 4. Angstrom adjusts his scarf, and the end of the scarf blows to the side in the increasingly heavy snow and wind. He continues, "But we should discuss it while it is *fresh*, Mr. Zane. It may shed light on your condition. Whether or not this happened before, outside the *scope* of our memories. On a personal note, the weather's turning, and I'd rather not stand out here in it any longer." Angstrom's expression, even hidden by his large square glasses, is very troubled. Behind him, the lamppost shines brightly. ; Panel 5. Zane and Angstrom are shown in the same panel, with the thick door separating them. Zane is facing the reader, while Angstrom is facing away from the reader. The antiques shop is still dark, and Zane is shown in shadow, all in black except for his eyes, two small white circles. He holds the corkscrew up in front of him, and light glints off of it in a white cross shape. His text is written in red, and he says "No one else came with you, Doc?" Angstrom, on the other side of the door, answers "Yes, not to worry. It'd just be you and me." Zane answers, his text still in red, "You and me. Alone." ; Panel 6. Zane holds the corkscrew and the bloody diary page up in front of him, looking at them with blank eyes drawn as small circles. He's sweating and crying, with tears welling in his eyes and falling down his cheeks, and his expression is anguished as he says, in small red text, "Go home, Doc."